


Soulmate Through Time

by Kairoua



Category: Assassin's Creed, Assassin's Creed - All Media Types
Genre: And yet canon compliant, Desmond is an oblivious fool, Does it count as a past relationship if it was a different timeline????, Everyone thank grammarly, How Do I Tag, M/M, Minerva fucking around with timelines, Partial canon compliant?, Post death Desmond, Soulmates, Time Travel, Yusuf is a shit, non-canon compliant, old Ezio
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-10-23
Updated: 2020-10-28
Packaged: 2021-03-08 20:22:22
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 6,637
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27162451
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Kairoua/pseuds/Kairoua
Summary: Minerva fucks with time a bit and sends Desmond back to a 52 year old Ezio. The two kind of just sumble their way through everything from there.
Relationships: Ezio Auditore da Firenze/Desmond Miles, Past?? Ezio Auditore da Firenze/Sofia Sartor
Comments: 20
Kudos: 193





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> I wrote this because I started playing Odyessey in preparation for Valhalla and then fell into an abyss. I have not played Revelations in literal years so my memories are very blurry. I tried to make this story line up with it the best I could but I may miss a few minor things or have complete fuck ups. Also, extremely sorry for the grammar and punctuation in advance.

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Desmond gets dropped somewhere vaguely familiar. Finds his soulmate. Gets mildly threatened. Has a bit of a panic attack.

_Shit. Shit. Shit._

Desmond ran, the feeling of someone following him hanging like an ominous cloud as he weaved between people. He had an idea of where- when he was, but he hoped to god it was just another one of his weird dreams. The sudden spike in alarm from his body caused his shoulders to hunch up a bit, his hand shooting out and grabbing a small wall in order to vault himself over it.

Desmond managed to catch himself from falling flat on his ass, apologising profusely to the lady he had nearly bowled over as he made another sharp turn. He only managed to make it another few steps before a heavy weight dropped onto him, eliciting a yelp and then a pained grunt as he went sprawling across concrete.

Desmond quickly pulled the hood lower over his face, grunting when he felt the familiar press of a blade on the back of his neck through his hoodie, “Who are you?” The familiar drawl and accent sent a shiver down the ex-bartender’s spine, one that was not entirely born of fear if he was being honest with himself.

The blade pressed in slightly harder, the body on top of his bearing down a bit more as the voice growled out once again, “Who _are you_?” The ex-bartender drew a shallow breath, steeling his nerves before speaking to the man he had only ever seen from afar.

“My name is Desmond Miles… I’m an assassin… like you.” There was a long moment of silence where neither man moved, the distant sounds of the bustling streets being the only thing filling their silence. The weight suddenly lifted off him, hands grasping him and turning him to lay on his back before settling over him once again.

Desmond’s hood had stayed over his face, covering the top half well enough from the sunlight streaming down behind one Ezio Auditore da Firenze. The man stared down at him, obviously taken aback by the similarities between Desmond and his younger self. The man looked to be in his late forties maybe, granted he aged extremely well so it was hard for Desmond to properly guess his age.

They stared at each other, Desmond taking in all the details that seemed too real for this to be a dream. Dream Ezio always had a… sort of plastic look to him, as if Desmond were in the animus still and he was influencing the memories somehow. Ezio blinked, his expression hardening and his wrist coming up to brandish his blade against Desmond’s throat, unhindered by fabric this time.

“You lie.” The words were snarled and for a horrifying moment the older man pressed the blade in harder, making the breath in Desmond’s throat stall as he wheezed out a quick reply.

“No, I swear! I am Desmond Miles, and Minerva used you to deliver a message to me in the vault!” The ex-bartender clenched his eyes shut, missing the look of surprise that crossed Ezio’s face but not the fact that the elder was now pulling the blade away. Desmond squinted his eyes open slowly, waiting for a cold and painful death to come. Only Ezio did not move to kill him, merely stared down at him with a mixed look of intrigue and something Desmond could not put his finger on.

“Show me.” Desmond blinks up at the man, the words not fully registering until Ezio speaks again, the uncertainty now clear as day in his eyes.

“Show me the name you bear.” Desmond stares dumbly for a moment, clearing his throat when a familiar heat begins to warm his ears, his eyes darting to the side where he can see the busy street behind Ezio’s back.

“Maybe… not here…” The older assassin looks ready to protest but seems to realise that, though there is no one in the little side alley at the moment, they are still out in public and very much exposed to anybody who may come by.

Ezio relents, getting up slowly while keeping an eye on every one of Desmond’s movements. The latter moved just as slowly, the fear of setting the elder man off fresh enough in his mind to make him forget that he was just as skilled as the Florentine assassin.

Desmond let out a silent sigh of relief when Ezio did nothing but give him a meaningful look before taking off, glancing back every so often to check that he was still following. Desmond ignores the looks, looking around the city and taking in the sights as both familiar and unfamiliar streets pass him by. It’s only when they arrive at the local brotherhood that he recognises where he is, or more accurately, when he is.

The realisation gives him pause, the sudden feeling of dread settling low in his stomach. Ezio had a _wife_ around this time. Or he met his wife and from what Desmond had witnessed in the animus the two were very much in love and happy with one another. The ex-bartender had never seen if Ezio held Sofia’s name, had only ever seen his own. Faded and grey upon Ezio’s left wrist, wrapping around it like a bracelet.

Desmond had felt utterly betrayed the first time he saw the name, scoffing at the notion that his soulmate was in a different _time_ than him. He had felt betrayed when Ezio fell for Sofia, though tried to quell it with reason. Desmond wasn’t even alive in Ezio’s time, how could he expect the man to just stay single and alone until his final breath?

Desmond shook the dread off, following the older man inside the bureau and keeping his head low, fearful of the possibility of coming face to face with Sofia. The ex-bartender could not remember when precisely Ezio had met the woman, just that he had worked with her and that they built a life together after everything was said and done.

Ezio lead the younger man further inside the bureau, ignoring the questioning looks that he and the man were receiving. Eventually they made it to the room he had been given a few days previous upon his arrival in Constantinople. He held the door open, waiting for the younger man to walk in before closing the door after him, leaning against it, and crossing his arms over his chest.

Desmond fidgeted under the intense gaze, clearing his throat before gesturing vaguely toward him, “Can I ask a question?” Ezio considered him, tilting his head before shrugging a shoulder.

“Once I see that you are not lying to me then you may.” Desmond gave a shaky breath before nodding, slowly unzipping his hoodie and reluctantly pulling it to the side. This was probably the first time he had ever regretted not wearing something underneath the thin clothing, his body feeling terribly exposed under the close scrutiny of the man across from him.

Ezio’s breath hitched at the sight of his name scrawled across the younger man’s ribs, right underneath his heart. Desmond still was not looking at him, his gaze averted to the side as a faint blush coloured the tips of his ears. The elder man slowly stalked his way forward, reaching his hand out to trace the backs of his fingers over his name.

Desmond shuddered at the touch, glancing at the other from the corner of his eye before quickly looking away again. He did not know how to feel about any of it, nervousness and sheer excitement battling to take control in his mind in the face of his soulmate’s expression. Ezio only held amazement and disbelief in his features, not a single bit of rejection among it.

Eventually the elder man looked up, his eyes flickering over the other’s face slowly. He trailed his hand up slowly, revelling in the shudders his touch managed to elicit in the young man. Ezio trailed his hand up the side of his face, pushing the strange hood back to reveal more of the face hiding beneath until he could catch the man’s eyes.

The two stared at each other, neither really knowing what to do now that they were finally face to face with the one person, they thought they would never get to meet. Ezio had spent his years before becoming an assassin wondering who his soulmate might be, hoping against hope that when they met that missing piece inside him would finally click into place. When he had fallen into his current life the thoughts of his soulmate had fallen to the back of his mind, only coming back to the surface when he would glance the name beneath his hidden blade.

Desmond was in the same boat. As a child he had hidden the name, fearful of what reaction the name would invoke in his father should the man find out. Once he had escaped, he had tried for a while to find the owner of the name below his heart. He had only given up hope on finding them when he had been stuck in the animus and watched a baby be born. A baby named Ezio Auditore da Firenze.

Desmond was pulled from his thoughts when the elder man leant toward him slightly, a calloused thumb coming up to brush against his lips ever so softly as the man whispered mere inches from his face, “I never thought I would meet you…” Desmond’s breath hitched, his pulse hammering under Ezio’s fingertips.

Before they could move any further there was a rather abrupt knock at the door, causing Ezio to let out a frustrated breath, “Ignore them.” Desmond opened his mouth to protest but was beat to it when another series of loud knocks interrupted him. Ezio growled lowly, narrowing his eyes slightly at the younger man who was badly hiding his laughter.

The door opened then, a vaguely familiar face coming through the door with a bright smile before stopping abruptly, “Oh… am I interrupting something?” Ezio huffed a frustrated breath as Desmond shook his head with a kind smile, the both of them answering at the same time.

“No-”

“Yes-”

The older man sent a half-hearted glare toward the ex-bartender, who merely shrugged and turned his attention back to the man in front of them. Ezio grumbled under his breath, promising to have some choice words with the other before also turning toward the man who had entered his room. Ezio recognised him as the head of Assassin’s, Yusuf Tazim. A rather excitable man but rather enjoyable in every other moment except this one.

The man quickly glanced between the two men, noting the odd sort of tension in the room as he slowly began to speak, “Well I had heard that you had brought back a strange individual and thought I should see who it was. But I see that you have it taken care of.” Yusuf then turned his attention to the younger man, offering a polite smile as he offered.

“Will you be staying for dinner?” The young man hesitated for a moment, glancing at Ezio before looking back to Yusuf. Before he can reply however the mentor is speaking for him, sending a very obvious ‘go away’ glare toward him as he speaks.

“He will be joining us for dinner, and he will be staying here for the meantime as well.” The head of the Assassin’s gave a brief nod, turning quickly without another look toward the young man and swiftly leaving the room.

Ezio stared at the door for another moment before turning back toward Desmond, who had redone his strange doublet and was now looking around the room in interest. The older assassin watched him, taking in how _young_ the man looked and how similar he looked to a younger Ezio from a long time ago.

The elder assassin came closer, noting the way Desmond shifted a bit, keeping him in his peripheral as he continued to examine the room quietly. The boy was very obviously an assassin, despite the strange look of the doublet the hood was still the same as an assassin. He also held a hidden blade, albeit an odd one, but at this point everything about him was strange to Ezio.

Desmond finally looked at the man across from him, taking in the finer details of his face. His hair had greyed a small bit, shorter than what it was in his youth while his beard had grown fuller. His skin looked weather worn but oddly young, portraying nothing of the man’s actual age. A sudden blush worked its way over the ex-bartender’s face and ears, making him turn his face away and pull his hood lower in an effort to hide from his ancestor.

Ezio smirked slightly, stepping closer and bending his head a small bit while fingering the edge of the hood, “What is the matter _mio caro_?” The young man’s face darkened a shade as he gave the elder a half-hearted glare, grasping his wrist in order to pull it away from his hood.

That only served to amuse Ezio as he caught the man’s right hand up in his own, pushing the hood fully off with his free hand and smiling down at his young look alike, “You are quite lovely, _mio caro_. Tell me, how old are you?”

Desmond could not fight the blush, feeling the heat crawl down his neck the longer Ezio stared at him with that familiar flirtatious smile that he used on all the ladies in his younger years. Desmond wanted to dip his head and hide but the hand cupping the side of his face prevented him from doing so. The question took a second to register, the thumb rubbing along his cheekbone pleasantly distracting.

“Uh… twenty-five. What about you? You look like you’re in your forties.” Ezio chuckled, shaking his head slightly with an amused glimmer dancing in his dark eyes.

“fifty-two. Though I am flattered you think me younger than that.” Ezio brought Desmond’s hand up, lightly kissing the knuckles and relishing in the blush it elicited. His love appeared to be a shy one, and not at all opposed to the large age gap between them. Ezio had not brought it up yet but his soulmate was very clearly not from Florence, despite having a Florentine accent that was very similar to Ezio’s own.

Desmond tilted his head slightly, a questioning look painting his features as he noted the near constipated look on Ezio’s face. The older man appeared to be trying to find the right words for something, his eyes flickering over the ex-bartender’s face as he thought. He finally opened his mouth when Desmond offered a small, almost reassuring, smile.

“You are not of this time… are you?” Desmond jerked slightly, as if the words had physically harmed him. He stared at the taller male, mouth opening and closing a few times before he stuttered out a response.

“Wh-What? How did you figure that out?” Ezio snorted, squeezing Desmond’s hand that was still clasped within his own.

“You wear strange clothes and an even stranger hidden blade that are too… different, to be of this time. You also hold the symbols from the apple on your right arm. It would not be so farfetched to believe you came from another time.” Desmond’s brows furrowed at the mention of the symbols on his right arm. He did not have-

The young assassin’s eyes widened at the sight of his right arm, covered with a faded white circuitry type design that was also on the pieces of Eden. He had not noticed it before, too busy trying to gain his bearings while running away from the very man that was holding him so gently at the moment. Desmond turned his arm this way and that, noting that his arm actually looked kind of… dead. It was still fully functional and brought no pain, but it was too pale compared to the rest of him, the circuitry designs making the skin even lighter.

“I’m going to need to cover this up with some gloves…” Ezio also examined the lines, lightly tracing his fingers over the ones covering his young soulmate’s hand. The older assassin had many questions nagging at the back of his mind, a very large majority of them centred around Desmond but a few of them about the future of assassin’s and whether or not they won the war between templars and the brotherhood. He decided to go with the one that had been bothering him for the longest.

Desmond beat him to the punch though, looking up suddenly as if he had just remembered something important and stalling Ezio’s voice in his throat, “How many names do you have?” The elder man blinked, the question throwing him off kilter for a second before he regained his footing again.

“As in how many name’s do I bear?” The young man nodded, the movement jerky and hesitant, as if he really did not want the answer but also needed the answer. The elder assassin tilted his head curiously, wondering why the young man was asking such a question when they were soulmates.

“One. I only bears yours, _amore_.” Desmond let out a slow breath at that, guilt and relief washing over him like a wave. He was unbelievably relieved and happy that he was the only name on Ezio but at the same time undeniably guilty about it. Sofia was a lovely woman, who had made Ezio very happy in another lifetime. The old man had settled down for her! Having children and opening a _vineyard._

The guilt suddenly won out over the relief, self-doubt and worry taking its place as vicious thoughts tore through his mind. What if Ezio wanted children? What if Ezio met Sofia and decided that she was _so_ much better than Desmond?

The older man’s brows furrowed slightly, noting that Desmond’s breathing and heart rate had picked up into an almost alarming rate. His eyes were glazed, and his hands were gripping at Ezio’s own almost mindlessly. The taller male leant down a small bit, resting his brow against the younger man’s, closing his eyes, and murmuring in the softest voice he could muster, “Breathe _amore_ … Focus on me and _breathe._ Follow my breaths.” Ezio took Desmond’s left hand, bringing it down to his own chest and breathing slowly, waiting as the young man’s breaths slowly fell into sync with his own.

The whirlwind of bad thoughts calmed in Desmond’s mind, all but disappearing as his focus slowly came back to the man in front of him who was murmuring random nonsense lowly. The realisation that despite the words being in English, Ezio’s mouth was not making the movements necessary for those words, clicking faintly in the back of his mind. He was speaking Italian but somehow it was coming out as English in Desmond’s ears.

Ezio slowly pulled back from the young man, his neck protesting the movement with an audible click. Desmond winced at the noise, a reassuring sign that he was no longer lost in whatever panic induced thoughts had occurred to him just then. The older man grasped both of the young assassin’s hands in his own, slowly leading him toward the bed in the middle of the room before sitting him down, speaking softly as he ran a hand over the young man’s short hair.

“Sleep _mio caro_ , you look beyond exhausted.” Desmond only protested for a moment before agreeing quietly, exhaustion hitting his body hard and fast, as if all the events of the day from his time and the events of the day from Ezio’s time had compiled into one singular brick of tiredness.

The shorter male only speared enough time to kick his socks and shoes off before crawling under the soft blankets and promptly falling asleep, making the other man snort in fond amusement. Ezio watched him for a moment, wondering what had gone through Desmond’s mind in order to send him into a panic like that, something the elder had not seen since his mother had fallen ill.

The older assassin sighed softly, stripping down until he was only in his tunic and hose while dropping everything else in a pile at the end of the bed. He crawled into the bed after his smaller soulmate, shifting around some before settling an arm’s length from the young man. He may get into the man’s personal space a small bit just to see him flush and fluster but he would not be so bold as to assume that it was alright to do so when the man was asleep and defenceless. Ezio had waited years to meet his soulmate and he would be damned if he messed it all up before they had even begun to pursue a relationship together.

Ezio watched Desmond for a moment, tracing his softer features with his eyes and committing the sight to memory on the slight off chance that this was all a hallucination. That he was going to wake up and Desmond was going to be gone. The older man sighed, allowing himself to reach out and curl his fingers around Desmond’s own, if only to reassure himself that the man in front of him was indeed real, before letting himself drift into a dreamless sleep.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Do I have another work I should be updating? Yes. Did I decide to do this anyway? Also yes. I honestly got really carried away with this. I wasn’t even planning on posting it but as you can see... Hope you enjoyed it though!!!


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> They talk. Desmond reveals some details about his and Ezio's life. Ezio discovers some new feelings.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Awkward ending. Sorry in advance.

Desmond came to slowly, his senses slowly registering more and more as his eyes refused to open. His body was heavy with sleep, his thoughts sluggish in a way they had not been in a very long time. The first thing to register in his tired mind was the warmth wrapped around him, particularly concentrated along his back, which only served to make him shift back a bit in an attempt to burrow himself further into the comfort.

The warmth behind him shifted, emitting a small noise of protest that had the young assassin squinting his eyes open, turning his head only enough to see over his shoulder. He froze for a second as he came face to face with a sleeping one, one that he thought he had dreamt up or… hallucinated or something. What was it called if you died and then met your soulmate in his later years of life?

His thought process was cut short when Ezio grunted a bit, cracking his open and looking at him with a dazed look. Desmond offered a small smile, wondering if the assassin was thinking something similar as realisation dawned in his eyes. The older man leant forward, burying his face in the back of Desmond’s neck with an almost relieved sounding sigh.

The ex-bartender faced forward once again, relaxing in the comfort of strong arms holding him close as the early morning light bathed the end of their bed. The atmosphere was peaceful enough that it almost sent Desmond back into sleep, the only thing stopping him being the sudden, muffled question against the nape of his neck.

“How are you here _amore_?” The young man took a moment to think about it, trying to remember what exactly had happened before he was dumped into a haystack and sent running for his life. The memories were slightly hazy, as if someone had pulled a sheer sheet over them. He could see what had gone down but could not make out the exact details of it.

“…I died.” Ezio’s arms instantly tightened around his abdomen, hands stopping their exploration of covered skin in order to grip the fabric instead.

“What do you mean?” Desmond sighed, suddenly very tired despite the restful sleep he had just woken up from. He rolled over, only dislodging the older man’s arms for a moment before they were settling back around him and pulling him close.

“I died. In order to save the world I either had to risk my life and activate a shield to protect the world but ultimately set Juno loose upon humans… or I let the world burn and save only a few thousand people with the help of temples and bunkers. I’m assuming you can guess which one I picked.” Desmond held his right arm up, as if that explained everything the other man needed to know.

Ezio could do nothing but stare at his soulmate, a mix of emotions blurring his eyes slightly. He brought the young man’s hand up, gently brushing his lips against the pale lines and trying to convey every one of his emotions through the simple actions. The young assassin’s breath hitched, his fingers twitching at the light touches as his eyes stayed locked with his ancestors.

“You really are a gem _mio caro_ …” Desmond snorted, ignoring the way heat worked its way across his ears and cheekbones as this legendary assassin stared at him as if he was everything precious in this world, a notion that was just plain ridiculous in Desmond’s head.

The events of yesterday came flooding back, bringing the thoughts of Sofia Sartor back along with it. Desmond frowned, ignoring the thumb that was rubbing along his cheekbone as he spoke with slight hesitance, “H-… Have you met a woman named Sofia? Sofia Sartor?”

Ezio gave his own frown at the mention of the woman. How did Desmond know her? And why did he- The young man’s question regarding how may names he held suddenly barged to the forefront of his mind, making the older man freeze for a split second.

Now, Ezio was not a very jealous man, nor was he very possessive. But the thought of having to share his soulmate with another… it did not exactly sit well with the older assassin. Feelings that he had never felt toward a lover before suddenly curdled low in his stomach, making him want to snap and bite at anyone who may want to come near his soulmate. The sensation was off putting enough to make him visibly disgruntled, prompting Desmond’s own worry, a frown marring his features as he reached out with tentative fingers to smooth the furrow between his ancestor’s brows.

“What’s wrong?” Ezio leant into the hesitant touches, sighing softly in an attempt to rid himself of the lingering jealousy and possessiveness. He took a few deep breaths before answering with an almost ashamed murmur.

“Apologies _amore_. I cannot help but feel jealous over having to share you. But if you bear her name as well then I will make do.” Desmond blinked owlishly up at the older man, his thoughts stalling at the statement before kicking into gear. His eyes widened as an amused snort escaped him, the hand not caressing Ezio’s face flying up to his mouth in an effort to hide his noises of amusement.

The older man frowned again, feeling slightly offended that he was being laughed at after saying that he was not going to cause a fuss over such things. Desmond took another moment to collect himself before speaking, a small smile gracing his features, “I don’t have her name. That statement was actually meant to be from me to you.” Now it was Ezio’s turn to snort, an incredulous look passing over his features.

“How does this woman matter if neither of us hold her name?” The pained look from the day before came back to the young man’s face with a vengeance, causing the hand on Ezio’s face to stall and the other to clench in the sheets by his face. It took another moment of silence before Desmond answered.

“In my time I was able to… relive your memories. I saw your life, through your eyes. From the time you were born to your final moments.” Ezio nodded slowly, not entirely sure on how they would manage that but deciding to leave the question for another time.

“In your later years of life, after you come back from Masyaf, you meet Sofia Sartor, and she helps in recovering the keys to Altair’s library. You…” Desmond huffs out a sigh, running a hand over his face in an attempt to wash away the old jealousy that still lingered.

“You fall in love with her. Get married, retire the brotherhood, open a vineyard, have kids. You were… very happy with her.” Realisation dawned on Ezio in that moment, Desmond’s questions and reactions making a lot more sense with the reveal of this new information.

The older man made a quiet sound of understanding, leaning forward and kissing the younger man on the forehead, “ _Mio Caro_ … I have you now do I not? I will not tell you that my eyes won’t stray because I am but a man. But my heart belongs to you, and your heart belongs to me. Yes?” Desmond nodded, allowing his eyes to slip shut as his other continued peppering kisses along his face.

“It does not matter if I fell in love with Sofia. That was another lifetime. A lifetime that did not have you in it.” Desmond let out a slow breath, the words serving as a comforting reassurance that he really did not have to worry about it. Ezio was right. He may have fallen in love with her but that was in a different timeline with a different Ezio. This one right here just happened to be all his.

The thought brought a smile to his face, his eyes opening when the feather light kisses stopped. Ezio was staring at him, a look of awe painting his features, “What?” The older man stared at him for a moment longer before shaking his head shortly, leaning forward to place a kiss on his cheek before sitting up.

“Nothing. You are simply very captivating.” A fierce blush burned its way across Desmond’s cheeks, causing the older man to laugh in delight before turning back to the end of the bed. He shuffled forward until his feet touched the hardwood floor, leaning over to pull his boots on.

“I am going to find us some food. We missed dinner last night and I doubt you ever got to eat recently.” At the mention of a meal Desmond’s stomach grumbled loudly, making his blush darken further as he stuttered out a response.

“S-sure. I’m not too fussy with food. As long as I’m fed, I’m happy.” Ezio nodded with an easy smile, walking to the side of the bed, and leaning down to kiss Desmond’s cheek a final time before taking off, the kiss as good a farewell as any.

Once the man had left the room the young assassin fell back with a large sigh. He still could not believe this was happening. The thought of this unreal and surreal in the same measure. He still had no idea on how he had gotten here but he had a vague hunch as to who would have played a part in it all.

Desmond tried thinking back on the last thing he remembered, hoping that it would provide some answers on why he was here, whether or not he was supposed to be doing something or not.

He had put his hand on the apple, immense pain had overtaken every cell and fibre of his body and yet there was a calming sort of feeling that had washed over him. It was a strange experience; one he did not have to suffer through for long since he passed out, or maybe he died, mere seconds after it had begun. Next thing he knew he was waking up in a hay cart with guards pointing swords and spears at him. He had run, crashed right into Ezio, and then kept running.

Another sigh escaped the young man’s mouth, frustration coursing through him at the lack of information on how and why he was here. Minerva hadn’t even tried talking to him before dumping him hundreds of years in the past. Desmond decided to not think on it any further, deciding to just go with the flow for now, see where he ended up and if the opportunity presented itself, he would get the answers he needs.

A knock at the door brought him out of his thoughts, making him roll out of bed and saunter over before flinging it open. Ezio stood on the other side, both hands holding plates and his foot stuck out as if to kick at the door again.

Desmond smiled at him, pulling the door open further and stepping to the side to allow the man in. He closed the door after him, watching as the older man set the plates of food onto the desk in the corner of the room, pulling up the desk chair and a slightly smaller chair next to it, placing the two at a far enough distance that when they sat down their elbows would not be in each other’s plates.

The older man turned to him once he was done, gesturing toward their makeshift dining table with a sweep of his arm and pulling the bigger chair out as Desmond came closer, “Morning _Tesoro_.” The older assassin leaned over and kissed him on the temple lightly, causing a hot blush to run over the young man’s nape and ears as he sat down.

The two ate in silence, Desmond occasionally breaking it with an incredulous, “What?” Whenever he caught Ezio staring at him from the corner of his eye. The man would only shake his head, smile demurely, and go back to eating. It made the heat on Desmond’s ears linger, his heart skipping a beat every single time, as if he were a teenager again. Once they had finished Desmond turned to the other man, leaning his right arm on the desk and resting his head in his hand. He stared the mentor down, waiting for him to finish eating as well before speaking.

“What are you going to do now?” The old man considered him for a moment, tilting his head this way and that, as if to look at Desmond at a different angle without either of them moving too much. Only when the young assassin started to squirm under the stares did Ezio finally speak.

“First, we should bathe, neither of us had the chance to do so yesterday. Then I would like to know more about you, possibly test your abilities as an assassin since you so obviously have training.” Desmond snorted at that last one, shrugging in a noncommittal way while nodding.

“Sounds good. What about Masyaf? The keys and the door?” Ezio frowned at the mention of it, making Desmond almost wish that he had not brought it up so soon. But he knew he had to, knew that it would only bring trouble if he were to try and avoid the matter. The older man, stared off to the side, lost in thought for a few quiet moments.

He turned back to Desmond, determination written in his eyes as he spoke, “We get them. We cannot leave the keys out where the templars could get their hands on them. But until then,” Ezio stood up, clapping his hands together once before gesturing to the door, “We bathe.”

The ex-bartender snorted, shaking his head in amusement as he let his older soulmate pull him to his feet. Once standing Ezio kissed him on the cheek, lingering for a second longer before going to the nearby drawer, pulling out some clothes. Desmond could not make heads nor tails of the clothing, but he knew where each item belong at least.

Once Ezio had pulled out enough clothes for the both of them he turned around, handing one pile of clothing to the young man that was still standing by the makeshift dining table. He stared at them for a second before blinking at the older man, eliciting a fond huff and shake of the head, “Besides the fact that I would very much like to see you in my clothes, you also do not possess any _Tesoro_.”

This made the ex-bartender blush once more, an embarrassed squeak, that Desmond will forever deny making, escaping him before he could choke it down. The sound pulled a surprised laugh from the mentor, his heart stuttering at the adorable pout that now adorned Desmond’s face.

Ezio sobered quickly, pulling the young man’s hand up to run his lips lightly over the knuckles, “We shall buy you some later today. Come.” He kept the slightly smaller hand in his own, leading him outside of the room with their clothes bundled up under their free arms.

Soulmates of the same gender were not exactly… common, in Constantinople. There were some but they were few and far between, very private about their lives and more often than not, hidden completely from the public eye. Within the brotherhood it was different. Not many found their soulmates in an Assassin’s line of work, those that did were rarely allowed to entertain thoughts of settling down with those meant for them. Assassin’s often took whatever comfort or pleasure in whatever, or whoever, they could. As long as both parties were consenting then nobody cared what anyone else did.

It appeared that things were somewhat similar in Desmond’s time, considering he never attempted to pull away or hide. He just stumbled a bit, caught up with Ezio and walked by his side, all the pride in the world radiating with each step he took.

Ezio did not understand it. He did not know why Desmond would be proud to be the soulmate of an old man. A man that was way past his prime and would die any day now. Whether from old age of being too slow in the midst of a battle, he did not know. But dying was dying and Desmond was still… a very long time away from that fate.

A jerk to the older assassin’s hand pulled him from his thoughts, his eyes trailing down to give Desmond a questioning look. The ex-bartender nodded forward, making Ezio look over and notice, for the first time, the group of assassins that were standing by the entrance to the bathing chambers. The group was, not so discreetly, talking about them. Or more specifically, Desmond.

The young man tilted his head in curiosity when one of them glanced at him, giving a small smile before quickly turning back to the group. The look elicited a sudden and disconcerting wave of jealousy, almost knocking the old man flat on his ass before he shook the feeling off. He led them forward, nodding once to the group in greeting before trying to pull Desmond through the open doorway.

“Um… Mentor. Is it alright if we borrow the young assassin?” The question made Ezio look over to the young woman sharply, the urge to fight rearing up and making him tense.

Desmond noticed the sudden change in his posture, quickly putting himself between the two, offering a nervous smile before pushing the older man inside. The ex-bartender had not understood what the assassin had said, had only saw the way that whatever she had said made Ezio battle ready between one breath and the next. It made the younger man uneasy, made him want to pull his own hidden blades from their sheaths, despite not wearing them at the moment. Desmond sighed, noting the tenseness that remained in Ezio’s shoulders with a worried once over.

“How about we take a bath and give you a shoulder rub?” It was a poor attempt at trying to distract the older male, but it seemed to work well enough, making Ezio nod with a grunt, turning his back and stripping out of the clothes he had gone to sleep in. The ex-bartender turned his back also, stripping his own clothes and putting them in a neat folded pile to stash away at a later time. For now, a bath.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I did not think this would get any attention so I don't actually have a plan for this. I know some of you are expecting a legitimate story but I do not have one (yet). So at the moment, this is just a collection of prompts and tropes that I've seen around and wanted to put to this couple. 
> 
> Also! translations! I just assumed that everyone would know these but realised that that may not be the case so!  
> Tesoro = Treasue/Darling  
> Amore = Love  
> Mio Caro = my dear (from my understanding this one is used for males. Cara is for females.)
> 
> I could be very wrong about these, I'm not sure so please correct me if I am wrong.


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